LCD Desktop Monitor Fading to White, then Black

In article , saber850 writes

Yes. Sensible, logical fault-finding.

It depends on the specific monitor. Some have an external PSU brick, if yours are those then try swapping them over. If the PSU is internal it will probably be on its own board which can be removed and swapped out.

How old is the monitor?

This is great info; thanks. The website links you found refer to the problem as "flickering". Is that the condition my monitor has, given the video I posted?

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If it is the invertor or the power supply circuit, would either be worth repairing/replacing instead of replacing the entire monitor? Is there any part of an LCD monitor whose expense would not justify its replacement, and to simply replace the monitor as a whole?

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No, this is one of my desktop monitors, and my desktop is not configured to sleep or hibernate. The second monitor which is connected to the same video card continues to function properly while the other malfunctions. So I don't think it's a problem of effect of the video card or computer.

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Yeah, I was also a bit disturbed by the video when the picture's color inverts. I've changed my background so if I capture another video of the malfunctioning problem, it won't contain a person.

If the problem were related to a "stuck" or "sticking" button on the face of the monitor, I'd expect the problem to exist all the time, or at least after I use the buttons. But neither is the case for me. The problem will start at a seemingly random time, and stop after a seemingly equally random duration. In particular, I rarely use the monitor's buttons except for power.

I was also thinking about applying heat to the back of the monitor to see if that triggers the problem. If that triggers it, does that suggest a cold solder joint?

Thanks for the info about the worth of the panel.

This monitor does not have an external PSU brick; so I assume the PSU is internal. According to the following link, this monitor's power supply and inverter boards are integrated into one unit

I purchased the monitor new in 2007.

No, it's not the same. What's probably happening is that as your power supply warms up, the cazapitors are starting to also get hot. My guess(tm) is that the power supply output voltages drop, causing the odd changes to white and black. The symptoms of having the wrong power supply voltage vary radically with the type of circuit and which capacitors are a problem. I've seen flickering, fades, time delayed sudden failure, smoke, fire, and most commonly, just plain no picture. Given a specific single component failure, it's possible to predict the symptoms. Given multiple partial failures, it's at best a guess.

Open up the monitor (it's a royal pain), replace all the big caps whether they look bad or not, and live happily ever after. If you're into being sure, I suggest you look into purchasing or building an ESR (equivalent series resistance) meter, as you're guaranteed to run into this problem in other devices that use electrolytics (motherboards, TV's, power supplies, monitors, game boxes, router, etc). I use mine far too often.

(I have this one)

More good reading on LCD repair:

Note how just about all the failures are electrolytic capacitors. Here's your Syncmaster 204 page:

Note the they're symptoms include a "dark picture". Hmmmm...

The Samsung SyncMonster 204/214 is all one big board. There are replacement boards available on eBay but they tend to have the same problem that you're trying to fix.

Sending the monitor to the recyclers for such a simple problem will surely bring down upon your head the wrath of all repairmen, ecologists, and toxic waste handlers. To maintain your karma, you must at least make an attempt at repair.

Incidentally, having two identical monitors is a bad idea. Sympathetic failure and contagious failure modes has been known to propagate between the bad monitor and the good. I would keep them apart just to be safe.

In article , Jeff Liebermann writes

Yeah, I know. Just had two Iiyama 20" TFTs (used side by side with a spanned desktop) fail on me. Expensive lesson.

In article , saber850 writes

Don't think so. The photos in your link show that the power board is separate. It would be unusual for the PSU and driver electronics to be integrated into a single board. It's also obvious that it's been designed down to the lowest price possible.

Ugh. The state of these caps. Samsung have skimped on the components and their users are now paying the price. Bad form.

I suggest as a first step you do what the link above suggests and replace the few caps indicated, and see how it goes.

That might be a different problem. The warranty timer chip found in most electronic devices may have been triggered. The manufacturer sets the warranty countdown timer to induce a failure immediately after the warranty expires. When the power supply blows up, and produces a continuous clicking sound, I tell the customer that's the warranty timer still running.

Could placing a small 12V fan temporarily, at least, in that area be a diagnostic tool ?

Uva uvam videndo varia fit, right?

The 7600 I looked at had only two DVI ports. What I was trying to get at was trying the monitors on a DSUB port. But after reading a post from PlainBill his solution is more plausible than mine although buttressing my point of a video processing problem rather than a backlighting issue. If you were losing back light you would still be able to see the image by shining a light on the monitor at an oblique angle

It's not only that. There is a grating feeling when two otherwise identical items have one that shows signs of minor inferiority. It's a sick child, something that is crying out for some attention.

Ye feel you should be doing something about the one that is failing, but the affliction is so slight that technically it's not a worthwhile process of either taking the cover off or approaching the service agent with complaints.

However, that feeling is however a stress to be remembered and eventually dealt with as with all the other stresses one unfortunately collects.

Now, if you only had one of the item and that fault was so minor, you'd probably be not so aware of the problem, and certainly not so aware of the stress ...

Life is simpler. I'm going to disconnect one of my stereo speakers and live with mono. ;-)

Very helpful, thanks.

I'm all for repairing it, but I just want to make sure the repair is cost effective. From the information I've received from this group, and websites, it seems the repair will be very inexpensive if it's just some capacitors.

Is there a way I can gain confidence that the problem is w/ the capacitors, before opening it up?

Yes, I considered this. Unfortunately, as I described, the problem is very random. For example, it has not surfaced in over a week. So by trying to cool it, I don't know if it's actually helping, or luck. The same problem applies to the suggestions I've received to replace the caps outlined on that website. While I'd be happy to do it, I won't really know if it has helped for a couple months.

One thing I'd really like is to find a trigger for this problem. I will try heat today. Is there a way to "stress" the monitor's electronics, to try reproducing the issue? Would changing the image rapidly have any effect? Should I display a solid color (perhaps white) on it?

With a reasonably reliable repro procedure (even if it takes hours), I can then get more info, and attempt to fix it, all while having some confidence that my changes have either helped or not.

I don't think Samsung uses grape juice in their capacitors.

Monitor failures really are contagious. In about 2004, I purchased 9 almost identical Dell systems, all with E173FPF(?) LCD displays. They worked just fine for 3 years, when they started failing. The ones that were the warmest and powered on the longest failed first. Within about 2 months, 6 had developed bad capacitor failure symptoms. What I found amazing was there was one monitor that was left in the box for about 2 years. It was used to replace the first monitor failure, and promptly died about 6 months later. Apparently, they age in the box. When asked by the owner what was happening, I joked that such failures were contagious. Unfortunately, my explanation leaked all over the company with predictable embarrassment. I had to write a company wide memo explaining what was really happening, what I was doing to fix it, and apologize for my bad joke. (However, I didn't promise not to do it again).